Adelaide supports: Supertrucks smash up
The supports caught the most attention on the opening day of the VAILO Adelaide 500, mainly due to a pair of horrific Stadium Super Truck crashes.
Fans were enjoying the first sighting of the Stadium Super Trucks since 2020 in practice before some unfortunate chaos unfolded.
The first to find drama in the high-flying monster truck style machines was former Supercars driver Shae Davies.
Davies had a scary barrel roll after completing the final jump on the pit straight, flipping high in the air at pit exit.
Davies’ front end pitched on landing and violently flipped around seven times before ending up on its side at pit exit.
The reds were waved and fans and competitors hoped things would be clean for the remainder of the session.
It was for seven minutes before Matt Mingay had an even scarier shunt on the approach to Turn 13.
Mingay got out of shape on the last jump ahead of the penultimate corner and was sent hard into the inside wall on the right hand side.
The sheer impact saw the fuel cell fly out of the truck in a ball of flames like a projectile across the track before coming to rest by the concrete fence.
Drivers pulled over to check on Mingay and thankfully both Mingay and Davies are okay.
Supertrucks are scheduled to qualify at 11.55, but there are doubts over the remainder of the weekend for the category.
There were no concerns in the Carrera Cup as the Porsches lapped the fastest ever practice times at Adelaide.
Leading the way was David Russell, who posted a 1:19.9611 which proved to be just enough.
Russell enjoyed a three-tenth advantage for most of the session before Jackson Walls put the foot down late in the piece.
Walls also went below record pace in the final minutes, but fell 0.0668s short.
Next best was champion Harri Jones, who was three tenths adrift with Ryder Quinn and Glen Wood completing the top five.
The previous lap record was a 1:20.1441 posted by Bayley Hall last year.
Qualifying is at 9.45 Friday morning.
Todd Hazelwood’s pursuit of securing a Trans Am title on his home streets of Adelaide has started strong.
Hazelwood topped the one and only Trans Am practice session with a strong 1:23.4441.
Not only that the TFH Racing driver was a commanding four tenths clear of Jordan Boys and title contender James Moffat.
Nathan Herne and the returning Ben Grice rounded out the top five.
Amazingly the entire top 11 were all Ford Mustangs.
A second practice is held at 9.10 before qualifying and the opening race at 11.15 and 15.30 respectively.
The fight for the V8 SuperUte Series title is going down to the wire and fortunately the three title contenders have all qualified in the top three.
Holding the high ground with pole position is Adam Marjoram.
Determined to go one better than last year Marjoram posted a 1:33.3736.
This was three tenths clear of Cameron Crick, leaving reigning champion Aaron Borg to settle for third.
David Sieders and Cody Brewczynski hope to spice things up from fourth and fifth respectively, while watch out for Ryal Harris from 10th.
Two V8 SuperUte Series races await on Saturday with the first at 9.45.
Image: Fox Sports
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